jem3@pyuxf.bellcore.com (John E McKillop) (07/24/90)
From: jem3@pyuxf.bellcore.com (John E McKillop) I posted a message on Tuesday, July 17th about the one and only C-47 glider plus an statement indicating that the most used U.S. glider in WWII was the CG-5. (Still waiting to see this post. Is it safe to say that the post is in the mail?????) Anyway, this is an update on last Tuesday's post to provide more info on the Gooney Glider plus info on the Waco CG-4 (NOT CG-5). GOONEY GLIDER ------------- Douglas C-47-DL, U S Army Air Corps serial number 41-18496, Douglas serial number 4588, was delivered to the U S Army Air Forces on 12 August 1942 and used within the Zone of Interior (ZI). The aircraft was delivered to Clinton County AAFld, Ohio in 1944, had its engines and engine covers removed and was fitted with covers over the nacelles. On 14 June 1944, the aircraft was redesignated XCG-17-DL. The XCG-17-DL was used in one of a series of tests conducted by the Air Technical Service Command at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio in the summer of 1944. The program was intended to develop a troop glider suitable for use behind the Douglas C-54 Skymaster, and went through three phases; dead-stick landings with a "normal" C-47; towed flights of one C-47 by a second C-47, the second aircraft using partial power for take-off; and finally tests of the XCG-17 itself. The XCG-17 was first flown behind a C-47 from Clinton County AAFld by Major D.O. Dodd in the summer of 1944. The XCG-17 was also used for some unique experiments in which it was towed off by two powered C-47s in tandem. The XCG-17 had the flattest glide of any cargo glider tested up to that time, and could have been even better had not the specification required that it be possible to reconvert the XCG-17 to a C-47. In consequency, the engine nacelles were retained on the wing, less engines. After the experiments, the engines were refitted and 41-18496 went back to soldiering as a C-47. This aircraft was placed in storage at Davis-Monthan Field, Ariz. on 25 August 1946 and was sold by 2 August 1949. The DC-3 was rebuilt by Advance Industries Inc and registered N69030. It was sold to Cia Mexicana de Aviacion SA of Mexico City, registered XA-JID, and a Certificate of Airworthiness was issued on 20 July 1950. The aircraft was sold to Petroleos Mexicanos on 21 January 1969 and they re-registered the aircraft as XC-OPS on 7 July 1969. The aircraft was still on the Mexican register as of September 1980. Fate unknown. WACO CG-5 --------- I stated that the Waco CG-5 was the most produced USAAF glider in WWII. Actually, it was the Waco CG-4. Here is the info on the CG-4. USAAC development of troop-carrying gliders began in 1941, with experimental contracts for a series of prototypes to meet two separate specifications. The first requirement was for an 8-9 seat transport, and contracts were placed for single prototypes of the: Bowlus XCG-7, Frankfort XCG-1 (Frankfort Model TCC-41), St. Louis XCG-5, and Waco XCG-3 (Waco Model NYQ-3). The second type was to be a larger, 15-seat glider, and the same four companies each received contracts for a single prototype of this type as follows: Bowlus XCG-8, Frankfort XCG-2 (Frankfort Model TCC-21), St. Louis XCG-6, and Waco XCG-4. Of the eight prototypes ordered, all but the Frankfort XCG-1 and XCG-2, and the St. Louis XCG-6 were completed and test-flown but no further development of the St. Louis or Bowlus designs occurred, only the two Waco types reaching quantity production. The Waco CG-3A, which was used principally for training; the CG-4 became the first and most-widely used U.S. troop glider of World War II. After tests with the XCG-4 in 1942, a second prototype was ordered and plans were made for large scale production in which, eventually, 16 different assembly lines participated, to deliver 13,906 versions of the CG-4A. Of mixed wood and metal construciton, mostly fabric covered, the CG-4A was of conventional troop-glider design, with a high wing, a box-section fuselage, and an upward-hinged nose section to permit direct loading of vehicles into the cabin. The hinged portion of the nose contained the cockpit with its dual control for two pilots side-by-side, and the tow attachment. As required by the specification, the CG-4A could accommodate 15 equipped troops, including two serving as pilots. Among other tactical loads which could be carried were a standard Army Jeep with four-man crew, or a 75-mm howitzer and crew. Its gross weight of 7,500 to 9,000 pounds (3401-4802 kg) and towing speed of 150 mph (241 km/h) made it suitable for operations behind the Curtiss C-46 Commando and C-47. Companies which were included in the CG-4A program, and the numbers built by each, were: Babcock Aircraft, Deland, Florida..................... 60 Cessna Aircraft Co, Wichita, Kansas................... 750 Commonwealth Aircraft, Kansas City, Missouri..........1,470 Ford Motor Co, Willow Run, Michigan...................4,190 G & A Aircraft, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania............ 627 General Aircraft, Astoria, Queens, New York City......1,112 Gibson Refrigerator, Greenville, Michigan.............1,078 Laister-Kaufman Aircraft Co, St. Louis, Missouri...... 310 National.............................................. 1 Northwestern Aeronautical Corp, St. Paul, Minnesota...1,150 Pratt, Read & Co, Deep River, Connecticut............. 956 Ridgefield Manufacturing Co, Ridgeville, New Jersey... 156 Robertson Aircraft, St. Louis, Missouri............... 170 Timm Aircraft, Van Nuys, California................... 434 Ward Furniture Co, Ft Smith, Arkansas................. 7 Waco Aircraft Co, Troy, Ohio..........................1,075 Included in these totals are four airframes converted to other configurations, as noted below. The CG-4A went into operation, rather disastrously, in the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943. A series of misadventures, none of them attributable to the design of the aircrft, minimized the effectiveness of the glider attack. Greater success attended their participation, in March 1944, in the second Wingate Chindit operation in Burma, involving landing in a jungle clearing by night 150 miles behind the main Japanese lines. Subsequently, these gliders participated inother major airborne operations of which the most significant were the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944, the landings in southern France in August 1944, the action at Arnhem (Operation Market Garden), and the crossing of the Rhine. Although the CG-4A was unable to carry some of the larger items of military equipment, it performed its designed mission satisfactorily, and little design development occurred. One of the subcontractors, Timm Aircraft, built the sole XCG-4B in 1943, in which metal was excluded from the sturcture. Northwestern converted one CG-4A to the sole XPG-1 in 1943; this had two Franklin 6AC-298-N3 flat-four engines in nacelles beneath the wings, the object being to allow the glider to return under its own power after completing a mission. A similar conversion was made by Ridgefield to produce the XPG-2 with two Ranger L-440-1 engines. After tests with this prototype, a service test batch of ten PG-2As were ordered from Northwestern with L-440-7 engines, in 1944. A proposed XPG-2B with R-755-9 radial engines was cancelled in 1945. Meanwhile, Waco developed an improved version of the CG-4A as the XCG-15 (Waco Mode NEU). The prototype was a converted CG-4A, the changes comprising a reduction in wing-span from 83 feet 8 inches (25.5m) to 62 feet 2 inches (18.9m), elimination of wing spoilers, a cantilever type landing gear, better nose shape, and internal changes including standard USAAF tie-down fittings and floor spacing. The normal gross weight increased by 500 pounds (227kg) and the towing speed went up to 180 mph (290 km/h). Waco built two prototype XCG-15As and had delivered 427 of the 1,000 ordered when production was terminated at the end of the war. The first 385 were 15-seaters; the remaining 42 had 16 seats. The CG-15As saw limited service alongside the CG-4As. In 1945, one XCG-15A was converted to the XPG-3 with two Jacobs R-755-9 radial engines, for use as a low-cost troop or cargo transport which could also be towed as a glider. Fuel was carried for three hours' duration. In June 1948, the U.S. Air Force discarded the CG (Cargo Glider), PG (Powered Glider) and TG (Training Glider) designations in favor of a simple G (Glider) classification. A number of the Waco types were redesignated as follows: CG-4A to G-4A CG-15A to G-15A PG-2A to G-2A XPG-3 to G-3 In 1949, 35 G-4As were converted to G-4C with a U.S. Navy-developed tow bar. CG-4A SPECIFICATIONS -------------------- Dimensions: 83 feet 8 inches (25.5 meters) Length: 48 feet 4 inches (14.7 meters) Height: 12 feet 7 inches (3.8 meters) Wing area: 852 square feet (259.7 square meters) Empty weight: 3,700 pounds (1,678 kg) Gross weight: 7,500 pounds (3,401 kg) Towing speed: 150 mph (241 km/h) Stall speed: 44 mph (71 km/h) Armament: None